Anglophone West Africa

Nigeria

• Earlier in the week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the country’s October Inflation report, which indicated a 21.1% y/y climb in the consumer price index, 32bps higher that its 20.8% y/y print in Sep-22.
• According to the NBS, likely factors responsible for the increase in the annual inflation rate (year-on-year basis) include disruption in the supply of food products; increase in the cost of importation due to the persistent currency depreciation; and a general increase in the cost of production e.g., increase in energy cost.
• According to the GDP report (using the Expenditure and Income approach) by the NBS, consumption expenditure in H1-22 rose 14.4% y/y to N57.1trn. Household final consumption grew 6.9% y/y on Q1-22 and 17.6% y/y in Q2-22.
• The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) at its 28th edition, advised that the Federal Government (FG) grow Nigeria’s GDP to $4.5tn - $9.0tn, while revisiting its exchange rate management policies, cutting its frequency in of borrowing, and focusing on revenue enhancement, to actualize the Nigeria Agenda 2050.
• In a document titled "Nigeria’s Cretaceous Basins: The Potentials for Gas", composed by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Federal Government has identified 213 gas blocks that are open for investment. They are located across the Niger Delta, Anambra state, the Benue Trough, Bida, Chad, Dahomey and Sokoto.
• The Nigerian Senate has set up a committee to investigate the uneven disbursement of N483.0bn loan by the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) across the country.
• According to the DBN’s Annual Integrated Statutory Report 2021, Lagos state was the recipient of 47.0% of the disbursed funds, while 11.0% went to the 19 states of Northern Nigeria. The committee will be chaired by Sen. Sani Musa, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and other Financial Institutions.
• Also, Telecommunication companies protested against MTN Nigeria’s request to be allowed to participate in the upcoming 5G-spectrum auction.
• According to the operators, MTN’s intention to get an additional Fifth-Generation spectrum in the upcoming 5G-spectrum auction scheduled for the 19-Dec-22, was against the competition laws.

 Ghana

• According to Ghana Statistical Service, the country’s producer prices climbed 65.2% y/y in Oct-22 vs 45.9% y/y climb in Sep-22, reflecting an increase on overall cost of production.
• According to the Ghanaian Parliament Deputy Majority Leader, the West African nation’s government is scheduled to present its 2023 budget to the parliament on 24^th Nov.

Francophone West Africa (WAEMU)

Ivory Coast

• According to data published by the Abidjan-based statistics agency, Ivory Coast’s inflation rate slowed from 6.3% y/y in Sep-22 to print at 6.2% y/y in Oct-22.
• According to Bloomberg, Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, is selling beans at a discount again, after the policy it sought to end earlier this year triggered a slump in sales.

 Senegal

• According to the National Agency of Statistics and Demography, Senegal’s consumer prices climbed 13.0% y/y in Oct-22 vs 11.9% y/y recorded in Sep-22.
• According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Senegal’s economy should recover on the back of a temporary boost from oil and gas production amid de-escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
• Thus, the International Financial Organisation forecasted that the country would grow 8.1% in 2023.
• Earlier in the week, the President of China, Xi Jinping, reiterated the Chinese government’s commitment to support Senegal in building infrastructure such as roads and industrial parks, and expand imports for its agricultural products.
• The National Integrated Waste Management Company of Senegal, Sonaged, has secured finance to build a methane-reducing compost technology for food waste to generate carbon credits expected to trade under a new UN-run carbon market.

East Africa

Kenya

• According to the Head of the Horticulture Directorate, Kenya’s Horticulture earnings could drop 13.0% y/y to KSh130.0bn in 2022. This is owed to drought, lower production levels, and post-harvest losses.   
• Kenya’s Senate has begun scrutiny of the austerity measures imposed by the IMF as conditions for its loan. The IMF last week reached a staff-level agreement to disburse $433.0mn (KSH52.8bn) to Kenya as part of a $2.3bn loan approved in May-21. It brings total IMF financial support under this arrangements to $1.5bn.

 Rwanda

• The African Development Bank (AfDB) released its most recent East African Economic Outlook. It predicts a slow economic recovery in the region at 4.0% in 2022 against 5.1% in 2021, owing to the impact of geopolitical tensions, a devastating locust infection, regional tensions, and the lingering effect of COVID-19.
• According to the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) in its Oct-22 monthly report, Rwanda’s coffee production fell by 7.2% y/y to 7.5mn kg in Q3-22. It marks the first quarter of the 2022-23 season. However, coffee export revenue rose 6.2% y/y to $24.1mn. Coffee is Rwanda’s main export and accounts for 60.0% of its foreign exchange earnings.
• Rwanda has launched a EUR46.0mn facility that will finance government institutions working to implement Rwanda’s climate action plan, also known as the National Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement. Rwanda’s 10-year climate action plan aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 38.0% by 2030. The cost of the plan is estimated at $11.0bn, made up of $5.7bn for mitigation and $5.3bn for adaptation.
• Following a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and the Financial Stability Committee (FSC), Rwanda’s Central Bank announced that it has decided to hike the repo rate by 50bps from 6.0% to 6.5% in a bid to rein in inflation and preserve consumer’s purchasing power.

 
Tanzania

• Initial exploration by Cassius Mining has confirmed the confirmed the presence of lepidolite, a lithium-rich mica, at the gneiss-hosted Dulu pegmatites. Further exploration will be conducted in December to complete the sampling over the southern gneiss exposures at Target 1 before moving on to Target 2.

 
Uganda

• According to a report by Uganda’s Coffee Development Authority, the country’s coffee exports declined 6.0% y/y to 457,244 bags in Oct-22.  Nevertheless, the value of the bean exported rose 10.0% y/y to $67.1mn.
• The Ugandan Revenue Authority has issued a guide on the taxation of the petroleum sector for 2022-23. Topics covered include the regulatory framework, the tax incentives for contractors, and tax administration measures to facilitate businesses.
• In a letter addressed to potential bilateral investors, the finance minister disclosed that the country is seeking to structure medium to long-term financing of EUR500.0mn to finance its 2022/23 budget.

Southern Africa

South Africa

• According to Statistics South Africa, retail sales declined by 0.6% y/y in Sep-22, from an upwardly revised 2.1% jump in the previous month. On a monthly basis, retail trade rose by 0.1% in Sep-22, following a 1.8% decrease in the prior month.
• Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic hub and its richest city, is seeking an electricity supply from private generators to reduce the number of scheduled power outages. The local government and City Power have issued a request for short-term power purchase agreements for as long as 36 months.
• According to media reports, market participants are projecting a 47bps hike in benchmark interest rate by the South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB) in its monetary policy meeting scheduled for the 24^th of Nov-22. This is on the back of the deteriorating current account balance and global inflation risks.
• According to the National Treasury, South Africa plans to tighten the qualifying criteria for welfare grants, following reports on the abuse of the privilege by government officials. The welfare grant was initially paid in 2020 to cushion the poor against the fallout of the coronavirus. The grant was reintroduced in the wake of the deadly riot in Jul-21 and extended until Mar-24.
• According to the finance minister, some of the loans South Africa secured as part of the $8.5bn climate finance package will cost 400-500bps lower than what the country would have paid commercial lenders, thus supporting future borrowing costs.

 Angola

• According to the Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Angola’s annual inflation eased for the ninth consecutive month to 16.7% y/y in Oct-22 from 18.2% in Sep-22. This was the lowest reading since Nov-19, with high oil prices continuing to support the Kwanza and keeping imported inflation well contained. On a m/m basis, consumer prices increased by 0.8% in Oct-22.
• According to the National Director of Public Health, at least 23.3mn doses of vaccines against Covid-19 have been administered in Angola. From the total number of vaccinated, about 14.9mn people have had one dose (78.1% of the eligible population), 8.1mn have had two doses (42.9%), and 1.3mn have had the booster or third dose (6.9%). 
• According to the Health Minister, the country plans to inoculate its citizens with a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from the 21^st of Nov-22 to mitigate the risks arising from a significant increase of covid-19 cases associated with community transmission.
• According to the Institute for the Management of State Assets and Participations (IGAPE), the government subsidised K339.7bn in fuel distributed throughout the country in Q1-22. The country spent a total of K471.5bn with the distribution of 990.3kMT of fuel.

 
Zambia

• Zambia and Mozambique have agreed in the nation’s capital, Lusaka, to strengthen collaborations in combating cross-border crimes such as terrorism, illegal migration, human trafficking, drugs, and poaching. In addition, the countries plan to strengthen their information sharing and training capacity.
• The 2022 Innovation Africa Ministerial Summit opened in Zambia’s Lusaka Province with a call on African countries to invest more in improving the quality of education on the continent. The President, Hakainde Hichilema, noted that private sector should partner with governments to increase investment in the education sector to ensure that required skills for industries were imparted.

 
 Zimbabwe

• Zimbabwean companies plan to increase the volume of trade with the United Nations (UN) amid data releases that showed the country only contributed $82.6mn (0.3% of the total) to the $29.6bn trade conducted by the international agency in 2021.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZim) has approved the rules on Contracts for Difference (CFDs), paving the way for the creation of a regulated CFDs trading framework in Zimbabwe. A CFD is a financial contract that pays the differences in settlement price between the open and closing trades. Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX), a subsidiary of Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) is set to pioneer CFDs trading of foreign currency. 

Central Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

• Moody’s rating agency upgraded the long-term bank deposit ratings of Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo from Caa1 to B3 and changed the outlook to stable from positive.
• Also, the rating agency upgraded the Democratic Republic of Congo's foreign issuer rating to B3 from Caa1, revising its outlook to stable from positive.

 Cameroon

• According to media reports, Afriland First Bank signed a partnership with the Enterprise Upgrading Office (BMN) under the National Program for Upgrading Cameroonian Enterprises (PNMAN) in Yaoundé on 17-Nov.
• The Cameroonian government contracted a total of CFA732.0bn in domestic debt over the first nine months of 2022.
• According to the Autonomous Amortization Fund (CAA), 36.8% of the amount was raised through fungible Treasury bills (BTA), 31.1% through fungible Treasury bonds (OTA) with 4 to 10 years of maturity, and 32.1% through bond issues (Treasury bond of 7 years of maturity).